By Patrick Loftus
The Commodores (15-9) snapped a two game skid with a dominating performance against the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (12-13-1) on Saturday at Red Wilson Field.
Brandon Magallones (Northwestern) was outstanding, giving up just one infield single in seven strong innings. He struck out three and walked one. Magallones had command of the strike zone throughout the game, inducing batter after batter to pop up. He needed only 89 pitches to get through seven innings.
Donny Murray (Holy Cross) and Zech Lemond (Rice) were effective in relief of Magallones. They each pitched a scoreless inning. Both relievers allowed a hit, but each kept the shut out in order.
The Commodores gave Magallones two runs to work with in the first inning. After Kevin Newman (Arizona) got robbed of a hit by an outstanding play by the Y-D centerfielder and Leon Byrd Jr. (Rice) was caught stealing, Rhys Hoskins (Sacramento State), Casey Gillaspie (Wichita State) and Dylan Davis (Oregon State) all singled. That brought in Hoskins with Davis getting credit for the RBI. Gillaspie scored on a Y-D wild pitch.
The Commodores never looked back.
In the fourth inning, two Y-D errors aided the Commodores in adding on two more runs. Joe Maggi (Arizona) led off with a walk. Richie Martin Jr. (Florida) attempted to sacrifice bunt Maggi over to second, but ended up changing places with him at first.
Byrd then reached base on an infield single. Martin ended up on third and Byrd on second due to a throwing error by the second baseman. Newman then hit a sharp ground ball to the third baseman, and Martin broke for home. The third baseman, aware of Martin’s speed rushed his throw to home. The throw was in the dirt and on the first base side of the plate, allowing Martin to score easily. Byrd advanced to third on the error.
The next batter, Hoskins, hit a towering fly ball to deep center field. Byrd came home on the sacrifice fly. Both runs scored in the inning were unearned.
Gillaspie extended the Commodores lead to 5-0 when he hit his fourth home run in the seventh inning.
It was one of the best games the team has played this season. The pitching was outstanding and the batters put pressure on Y-D throughout the game. The Commodores are now tied with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks with 30 points. Because the teams have not played the same number of games, it is possible to be ahead in the standings with fewer points and fewer games played. The league gives credit for the potential points in figuring the standings. That is why the Cotuit Kettleers are in second despite having the most points.
The Commodores start a three game homestand Sunday night when the team takes on the Harwich Mariners. The first pitch is scheduled for 5:30 PM.
The Commodores Corner 